House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said the FBI should have opened a counterintelligence investigation of Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016.

On "Hannity," Nunes discussed Republicans' controversial memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI, explaining the "clear link to Russia" which led to a FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page.

He said the Clinton campaign hired a law firm, which hired Fusion GPS, which then hired "foreign agent" Christoper Steele to dig up dirt via Russians on Donald Trump. The resulting dossier was then used to obtain the surveillance warrant.

"It seems like the counterintelligence investigation should have been opened up against the Hillary Clinton campaign when they got a hold of the dossier," said Nunes.

Earlier in the day, Nunes claimed there have been nearly "100 leaks" to the media by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee related to the Russia investigation.

He said the mainstream media would be "on fire" if a Republican candidate and administration had used the FBI in the same way to go after a Democrat rival.

"It's crickets. It's embarrassing. I'm almost flabbergasted because I thought there was at least an ounce of credibility left, but there really is none," said Nunes, adding the media is on the Democrats' "team" when it comes to the Russia investigation.

Nunes said Friday's memo was only "phase one" of a broader effort, including an "active investigation" of the State Department under the Obama administration.